A study performed by Griffin Securities analyzed more than 2,000 open job offerings at Microsoft, and shocker! The vast majority of these positions are for software engineers, emphasizing that Microsoft is still well and truly a software company first and foremost. The report found that 1,620 of the job openings are looking for software engineers, compared to just 199 for hardware engineers, as well as a number of other positions in customer service and other divisions.

Aside from reinforcing Microsoft's obvious commitment to software development, the report does highlight some interesting facts about Microsoft's hiring process. Of the openings in the various business units, Microsoft's Online Services division has the most open positions at 620, well ahead of Server and Tools (342), Office (308) and Windows (246). In hardware engineering, the available positions are relatively limited, with just 35 in the Xbox team and 28 relating to Surface tablets.

The phrase "streaming video" was seen alongside "Xbox" in nearly 50 job postings, showing that Microsoft is mighty keen on developing Xbox-related video services, while out of the 103 posts for "Windows Phone", none of them were for hardware engineering positions. Internationally (that is, outside Microsoft's home country of the USA), China has the most open positions with 339, followed by India with 176. If you're looking for a job in Europe with Microsoft, Germany is your best bet with 136 open places.

While Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has mentioned that the company is now in the "devices and services" business, it's still clear that the profit-making focus remains on software, with the huge Windows and Office divisions pulling the majority of revenue. If you happen to want to work for Microsoft, consider checking out their Careers page.